Beliefs about nature and nurture can affect how patients and their families respond to news about their diagnosis, according to Penn State health communication researchers. Understanding how people might respond to a health problem, especially when the recommendations for adapting to the condition may seem contradictory to their beliefs, is crucial to planning communication strategies, said Roxanne Parrott.

The language that doctors use with low-income, rural patients can help determine whether these patients agree to participate in clinical trials testing new cancer treatments, according to a new study by Ohio State and Penn State researchers. The team found that the metaphors doctors used to help explain what happens in such trials played a big role in whether patients would agree to participate. The results of the study appear online in the Journal of Health Communication and will be published in a future print edition.